


Of Disciplines and Portals

by magos186



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Episode: s03e05 A Life in the Day, Episode: s04e11 The 4-1-1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 23:18:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18679312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magos186/pseuds/magos186
Summary: Quentin finds more than he was expecting at Brakebills South: a reason to forgive Alice, his discipline, and his past. Or should we say his past found him?





	Of Disciplines and Portals

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the crappy summary. The idea for this has been floating around my head since I watched the 4-1-1. Besides, The Trial is giving me grief and while I was trying to math out the ages of Q & Teddy and his kids for it, this demanded to be written. 
> 
> This picks up at the very end of 4.11. I don’t remember if Quentin and Todd had much interaction since the events of 3.5, but for the sake of this story, they haven’t seen each other since. (Episode 3.9 doesn’t count cause it wasn’t really Todd.) References to 3.5 and a brief mention of Quentin/Arielle.

**_“How does it feel?”_** Alice asked looking at the fixed mug on the table.

**_“Like I made it made it wake up and remember what it was supposed to be.”_ **

Before Alice could respond, the doorway to the lab glowed and a portal opened up. Four girls of varying ages came through, one carrying a large bag and the oldest carrying a small child. The girl carrying the bag looked around with worried eyes. When they landed on Quentin, she dropped the bag and ran towards him shouting “Grampa!” 

He stood quickly, catching her in a tight hug. He pulled back after a few seconds and took her face in his hands. “Bambi?” He asked softly. She looked a few years older than the last time he’d seen her. “How are you here? What’s going on?”

“Daddy, please,” he heard one of the other girls shout. He looked over to see the oldest standing in front of the portal speaking to the man on the other side. Quentin moved to her side on shaky legs, nearly fainting when he saw the man.

“Teddy?” The way he said the name sounded like a prayer.

“Dad,” the man said with a relieved sigh. “Thank the gods. I didn’t know if this would work.”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t have much time to explain. It’s The Beast. He’s coming after all the magicians he can find.”

“Then you need to come through too. Why are you just standing there?” Quentin demanded.

“I can’t leave. I need to stay behind to destroy the portal.”

“Theodore –”

“Dad, please. I don’t know if I’m going to survive this and I don’t want our last conversation to be an argument. It’s not safe for my kids here. I know you’ll take care of them and raise the little ones with just as much love as you raised me.” Teddy stepped through to hug his father. “I missed you so much,” he whispered. 

A minute later, the sound of an explosion filled the air on the Fillorian side of the portal. They all knew what the sound meant. Quentin hugged his son as tight as he could. For the first time in months, he finally started to feel something besides an exhausting numbness. “You find a way to survive this Teddy,” he ordered. “You find a way back to us.”

“I’ll do my best. I love you dad.”

“I love you too son.”

Quentin stepped back and Teddy gathered his kids to him, hugging them one last time. “I love all of you so, so much. You be good for Grampa.”

The youngest girl clung to her oldest sister while the others clung to Quentin. He enveloped them in his arms as they watched Teddy step back through the portal. Theodore Rupert Coldwater-Waugh smiled at them one last time, tears in his eyes, and closed the portal. The family just stood there, staring into the empty doorway.

“Q?” Alice called after a few minutes. The group as a whole turned towards her. "What's going on?"

“Why don’t we all sit down?” He suggested. Once they were all situated on the benches, he knelt before the two youngest girls. “Do you remember me?” He asked softly. The littlest one shook her head. He couldn’t fault her. She was only 2 when he died. The other one gently ran her fingers over his face and then through his hair. 

“It’s so short now,” she marveled, “and brown. You’re not old anymore Grampa.”

“No sweetie, I’m not.”

“I missed you,” she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. He stood and she tucked her legs around his waist. 

“Alice, these are my grandkids: Arielle, Bambi, Gwen and Rina,” he said pointing to each one as he said their names. “I don’t know that munchkin though,” he said, gesturing to the baby in Arielle’s arms.

“This is Rupert. He was born a few months after you died.”

“How is this possible Q?” Alice asked.

“Time travel. I don’t know if you read more of my book than the end, but when we were on the quest for the keys, Eliot and I went to Fillory for the time key. We wound up in the past, decades before we were born. We had to solve the mosaic to get the key. It took us fifty years. In that time, I got married and had a son.” He motioned to the empty doorway. “One of you is missing though. Where’s Eli?”

“Yeah, um, about Eli –” Arielle muttered. “He’s actually here. I mean, not here, here. At least I don’t think so, but he um – he’s in this time. He had a really hard time when Papa died. He couldn’t deal with the loss. So he found one of the questing creatures and made a wish: to be a Brakebills student when Papa was.”

Quentin thought back, trying to remember all the students he could from his time at the school. One face stood out in his memories and he started to laugh so hard he nearly fell over. He’d forgotten what it was like to laugh. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d smiled. It felt good. “What’s so funny?” Gwen asked, lifting her head from his shoulder. 

“It’s Todd,” he said. 

“Oh my God," Alice said with a giggle. "That makes so much sense now.”

The two chuckled for a minute. Once they were done, Bambi asked, “So, where is Papa?” Quentin let out a sigh of exhaustion then.

“That, my loves, is a long story. Why don’t we go to my place and we can talk about it. We can collect your brother on the way.”


End file.
